在乎
zàihū · HSK 4
care about
💗 在 (at) + 乎 (particle marking concern) = to have it at heart
在 means 'at/in' and 乎 is a classical particle expressing doubt or concern. Together: to have something 'at one's concern' — i.e. to care about it or take it to heart.
在 — earth 土 + phonetic 才
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 土 (earth) gives the meaning of a place or location, while 才 supplies the sound. It came to mean 'to be present/located at,' and now also serves as a grammatical marker for ongoing actions, like 'in the middle of doing.'